I’m currently building some serving trays that require cove cuts done on the table saw. The directions with the pattern I’m using recommended making a channel – a top fence and a bottom fence, if you will – to run the stock through while cutting the coves.

That seemed unsafe to me. I did the cuts using only the top fence and my Grrr-ripper, and felt 100% safe doing the cuts.

Is this a standard way to do cove cuts? It just seemed wrong to me, so I didn’t make the cuts that way. Was my gut instinct wrong, or perhaps just more cautious than necessary?

My “top and bottom” reference is how I would describe the set-up recommended in my plans. The “top” fence was on the far side of the blade, and the “bottom” fence was on the near side of the blade, setting up a channel between the fences. I elected to only use the “top” fence … just as shown on the website linked by waho6o9. The video embedded by bbi uses what I would call a “bottom” fence: the fence is below the blade. Personally, I don’t like that set up any more than I do that of using 2 fences at once.

Using the “top” fence only is incredibly unsafe. The blade wants to push the board towards you, and the bottom fence prevents that from happening. If you’re cutting coves with a fence on the back side of the blade only, it’s only a matter of time until your board gets thrown in your face. That’s the best case scenario.